Whelan 'a fugitive' - Rio police

10 July 2014 09:46

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Police in Rio de Janeiro have declared Ray Whelan, the English director of FIFA's ticket and hospitality partners MATCH, to be "a fugitive" after they attempted to re-arrest him as part of an investigation into ticket touting.

Officers arrived at the Copacabana Palace hotel with an arrest warrant, but Whelan was not there and police said they had CCTV footage of him leaving through a service door.

MATCH has stuck by Whelan and insisted he has played no part in any wrongdoing.

Rio police investigator Fabio Barucke told reporters outside the hotel: "He's now considered a fugitive. We have security camera images of him exiting the hotel through a service door."

The Copacabana Palace is also the hotel where all the senior FIFA executives are staying, and the latest police involvement is another embarrassment for the world governing body.